The key for a taper week is to cut the miles, but yet not get sloggy stale. This means that the 21 miles or so that will be run before the race will include some short distances of speed work and a few hill repeats. The taper week also means healthy eating, which means clean food...no sugar, no extra, heavy foods that will only make me feel puffy and too full. (Plus with the concept having malodextrin gels in the race, there is no need to put in extra fuel.) One last ingredient is to drink plenty of water, but again, not so much as to get too puffy or having to go to the bathroom every two minutes.
Monday; April 18: Off to work early so this was a day off.
Tuesday; April 19: Your basic "gettin it done" 5 miler with abs, chest and back weight lifting.
Wednesday; April 20: Home late last night so the dogs and I slept in til 530am and then out the door at 630am with Traysen. It was an easy 7 miler at the house with brief periods of pushing the pace. All systems were feeling great so we are lining up for a good race on Saturday. One of the highlights of the day was around 545pm when it started raining!!! Yes, we got rain at the house! A chilly, snuggle with the dogs kind of drizzler.
Thursday; April 21: Off to Colorado Springs this morning to run with the JD and the Garden of the Gods group. Traysen even made the trek at 430am! With that bit of rain from the night before, we opted for a roady run, but have no fear...it was laden with the monster hill of Ridge Road where it was Traysen's goal to beat everyone to the top ...with Mom attached! After those first 4.5 hilly, huffing miles, we finished out the 8 miler with an easy trot. A bit sluggish today but yet a good "keep the legs turning" kind of run.
Friday; April 22: Most folks and most training programs will have you take the day off before a race, especially one of 31 miles. And while this works for most folks, I opted to go out for an easy 6 miler with Traysen (after weight lifting). One of the goals for the race on Saturday was to arrive at the day feeling well trained, fresh and not sluggish and lethargic, which is what happens when I am not exercising. (Sluggish and lethargic are different than feeling "over trained" and tired.) Having read and talked with several runners over the years, tapering for a race is individualistic and each runner must determine what works for him/her.
Saturday; April 23: Race Day! In a nutshell, it was awesome!!!! But more specifically, Epic Endurance Events owner/race director, Andrea ,,,,,,, designed the Cheyenne Mtn Trail Race 25K/50K with the goal of providing runners with an "epic" experience. And that she did. The race organization was perfect: course well marked, more food available before/during/after the race than anyone could consume, packet pickup was easy, plenty of porta potties,aid stations well place, staffed, supplied, etc. and the announcer of the race was still going strong late into the afternoon!
Sleeping in til 430am, I leisurely made my way to the race start by 715am, chatted with a few friends and made a few last minute pit stops. At 8am sharp, we 50K runners were off! As usual, those first 2-3 miles were a sluggish event, but quickly it was determined that this was to be a good day of running and I knew my goals would be obtainable verses not a chance. (The goals being: 1. finish the race 2. run the entire course, 3. race as well as my body would allow, 4. enjoy the race, 5. be home by dark.) After the ole bones had warmed up, the pace picked up and the running was comfortable, even the hills were easily tackled. Around 8 miles into the race, the 25K front runners started passing us slower 50K runners. Well, I couldn't let a bunch of scrawny boys get too far ahead, so the pace picked up even more! I kept telling myself to slow it down, but the legs were not listening. The good news is that I knew I would still run the entire race well, even having pushed a bit harder than I should have in the first half. And so it was...blazing through the first 15.5 miles in an easy effort at a faster than normal pace. As the ole legs rounded the corner for the second loop, I knew it was time to pull it back a bit. The legs were already trashed but the energy level and the rest of the body was feeling just fine, so I knew that pulling the pace back would help in accomplishing the mission of completing the race, running the race, and enjoying the race. Needless to say, that second loop was a bit more challenging than the first loop; however, it was quite peaceful running since most of the time I was on my own with no other runners in sight. (more on this in a minute). There was one "super sinker section" during the last 10 miles that almost had me crawling...I was still running at that point but it was not pretty ..not at all pretty. And it was during this brief (about 3 miles or so) section that I knew there were two upcoming hills that were going make me walk...no getting around it. The legs were hanging in there, but they were aching ...the rest of me was doing great. The good news is that I had kept my wits about me all day so far and was ok with the slight revision to the goals. Also, I had recently read an article by Shawn McDonald, titled "Relentless Forward Motion." The main focus of the article was on how to incorporate walking breaks into your ultra training and racing. Now, anybody (Lynne, Lori, Dee) who has run with me will tell you two things: Sarah does not like to stop the run and Sarah does not like walking during a run. However, having read Shawn's article was a key component to keeping my hard head glued on correctly during today's race. A few of of the concepts he mentions is that even elite runners incorporate walking (which I already knew), train with walking breaks in your running (which I try to avoid at all costs but they happen sometimes) and most helpful was his concept of easing back into the running after taking a walking break...meaning don't take off like a scared rabbit! Well, the little rabbit in this case was long gone, in fact, her little cotton tail was starting to droop! When I hit the first "killer" hill on the North Talon Trail, the legs had revived themselves somewhat (due to some downhill) and I was able to slowly trot most of that hill but did resort to about a 3 minute walk to crest the top. Shawn's advice worked! I gently eased by into the run and within 3 minutes or so, I was back up to full speed and feeling great! On the second "killer" hill on South Talon Trail, the sequence was repeated and all systems were moving along quite nicely now since we were headed back to the finish (about 4 - 5 miles to go). With those few miles mostly a downhill effort and with the passing of the last aid station, the ole legs just cruised to the finish.
Here are some key highlights to the race: 1. trained on the race a few times 2. forced intake of 4 gels, 6 endurolite tabs, 5 ibuprofen and about 30 oz. of water during the race and started intaking this stuff around mile 10; 3. did not stop at any aid station (except one brief 30 second pause to refill the water bottle) 4. walked about 5 minutes of the race and ran/trotted the rest 5. passed about 15 people throughout the race 6. came in 2nd Masters Woman (Masters is the old geezers that are over 40 years ) 7. and most importantly enjoyed the race.
Andrea and her team put together a great race, especially a first time event. They deserve a "job well done." (And some much needed rest!) Thanks to all the volunteers for being out there on a chilly morning! Next year, I will hopefully be in a position to volunteer at such a nice event.
What is next? Well, the one brain cell kicked a couple of weeks ago and I scrapped the Colligate Peaks 50 miler on May 7th...just too close to this race. I also scrapped the BlackHills 100K in Sturgis, SD in June. Basically, I am not ready for it...oh, I would complete the distance, but it would be ugly and given time away from husband, dogs, home, the travel involved, and the $$$$, I would rather wait til I know I can run a good hard effort. Next year! Soooo...that leaves me with looking at Leadville 50 miler on July 16th. A very hard race but with the training already done and the training ahead, this should be a good effort and I have always liked running up there. Over the next couple of months (after a reduction of miles for a week or so) lies many miles to cover, many hill repeats, tempo runs, and intervals to tackle....all while remaining injury free. No, the upcoming training is not considered a "pressure"...more like I can't wait to go run!
Sunday; April 24: Out the door with Traysen to enjoy a couple inches of wet sloppy snow....at a leisurely walking pace! We covered about 3 miles and called it a day....the key here is that legs were doing much better after the walk. Instead of taking the day off and having achy legs all day, I find a walk or an easy run will often work the lactic acid, waste, wear and tear out of the legs and they heal much quicker.
Summary: The week was almost perfect! A proper taper and then a great race on Saturday. In 2010, I had only run two races and neither one lived up to the level of training that had been done. In analyzing the reasoning, I came up with the following: 1. train on the terrain,trail, conditions, etc that you will be racing and 2. to run better you have to focus on improving the running and thus reduce other obligations/time and energy draining activities. Well, for the first part of 2011, I did both of those things. (Actually started some of the reduction of obligations in the last two years, but further reduced outside distractions in an effort to train as well as I could.) The training on the course served a few purposes: one being that I knew the course and knew what to expect and most importantly, it gave me the confidence to know how the body would perform, given the difficulty of the course. The reduction of obligations also served a few purposes, many of which carried over to all areas of life, not just in improving my running. By not being so overwhelmed I have been able to keep up with tempo runs, intervals, and hill repeats so the quality of the running has improved greatly. I have also been able to get more rest and not be stressed out with several things going on at once, all of which drain the energy and keep my focus on everything but training well.
A good friend, actually a few good friends, have so much on their plates, she/they can almost never relax and take time out for themselves. Sometimes we find ourselves in these positions by no fault of our own but often times, we self impose too much on time and energy...and often on our financial resources! And over time our energy is so drained we get nothing accomplished and/or we make mistakes in what we do accomplish. So, how do we reduce our obligations, commitments, etc? Quite simply: think about what you are taking on...Is this meaningful enough to me to add it to my list of obligations? Learn to say to NO to certain requests. This may seem selfish and harsh, but taking care of oneself is as important as taking care of others. Eliminate those things, events, people, etc that are not healthy for you. Yes, sometimes a friendship/relationship needs to be eliminated. Determine what is most meaningful in your life and focus on just that!
http://www.epicenduranceevents.com/
At the start, it was chilly!
The ole girl at work!
And then there was this guy from the 25K race. As he passed, I hollared, "you run like a girl!!" But he was gone and never heard my compliment!
Nice race report and great job! Probably wise to skip the May 7th race, and the Leadville one will be great!
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